Electric switch with miniature toggle mechanism



Aug. 18, 1959 G. B. BENANDER ET AL 2,900,466

ELECTRIC SWITCH WITH MINIATURE TOGGLEJ MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNOV. 29, 1957 729/ Af/amgy I Aug. 18, .1959 G. B. BENANDER ET AL2,900,466

' ELECTRIC SWITCH WITH MINIATURE TOGGLE MECHANISM Filed Nov. 29, 1957 I2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fire/#0: 620/ e 5 fic/ra/rden 14/ 6/ M Jeb/r. M of m726/? A/fdf/rg ELECTRIC swrrc wITH MINIATURE TOGGLE MECHANISM George B.Benauder and Luther M. Sheldon, Oaklawn,

R.I., assignors to General Electric Company, a corporation of New YorkApplication November 29, 1957, Serial No. 699,614

6 Claims. (Cl. 200-67) 'The present invention relates to electric toggleswitches and particularly to such switches with a miniature togglemechanism that will provide space for pressure-lock terminals of thetype taught in the Benander Patent No. 2,705,785, which is assigned tothe same assignee as is the present invention.

- In the wiring device industry there is what is known :as theinterchangeable line of devices which are mounted in a single mountingstrap. For instance, a single strap might support a single outlet, atoggle switch and a pilot light. Many other combinations of these threedevices may also be used. In all cases the interchangeable devices areof minimum size so that the mounting strap carrying the three devicescan be installed in a single electrical boxwith suflicient room foraccommodating the many lead wires that would be attached to the devices.

In recent years pressure-lock terminals have been substituted for thestandard screw terminals in many wiring devices. The present inventionrepresents a miniaturization of the toggle mechanism of an electrictoggle switch so that pressure-lock terminals can be accommodated withina switch housing for use in the interchangeable line.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an electric switchwith a miniature toggle mechanism of narrow dimensions so thatpressure-lock terminals may be combined within the switch housing.

A further object of this invention is to provide an electric switch witha simplified toggle mechanism whereby a coil spring is used to join thetrigger and flapper of the switch.

The switch of the present invention has a hollow housing of insulatingmaterial with a manually-operable trigger pivotally mounted by means oftrunnions on the opposite side walls of the housing. The lower end ofthe trigger has a downwardly-extending pin with a small slot formed inthe bottom portion to receive the upper end of a movable flapper that isto be operated by the trigger. This flapper is of thin insulatingmaterial formed in the shape of a heart with an upper extension fittedinto the slot of the trigger. A coil spring is slipped over the upperextension and is telescoped over the lower end of the trigger to form aflexible connection between the trigger and flapper. Side abutments areincluded on the lower pin of the trigger to serve as stop means thatwill hold the spring in compression and give this toggle mechanism asnap action. The bottom wall of the housing has a narrow concave trackextending lengthwise of the housing so that the pointed bottom end ofthe flapper may be supported and guided therein. A pair of springcontact blades are arranged at one end of the housing to be on oppositesides of the track. The insulating flapper carries a bridging contact inthe form of a rivet or eyelet that connects the spring contact bladeswhen the flapper is forced between the blades as the trigger moves toone of its extreme positions.

1 Our invention will be. better understood from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and itsscope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an electric toggle switchembodying our invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the switch of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional, elevational view through the longitudinalcenter of the switch showing the trigger in the Off position.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional, elevational view similar to that ofFigure 3 with the trigger shifted to the On position and showing indotted lines the approximate position of the trigger beforethe flapperbegins its flight into the closed circuit position.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the recessed base which forms the majorportion of the switch housing for enclosing the toggle mechanism.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional, elevational view of the switch housing ofthis invention taken on the line 66 of Figure 5 to show the manner ofsupporting the pressure-lock terminals.

Referring in detail to the drawing and in particular to the explodedview of Figure 2, the switch housing comprises a recessed base 10 thatis generally rectangular in plan view. This base has side walls 11, endwalls 12, bottom wall 13 and an open top wall 14. This top wall 14 isclosed by a removable cover member 15 that fits snugly into the interiorof the base and rests on the su porting posts 16 formed on the interiorof the end walls 12.. The cover plate 15 includes a raised collar 17 onits top surface. The collar encircles an opening 18 in the cover forreceiving a manually-operable trigger 19 therethrough. The trigger 19has a pair of trunnions 20 that rest on the partitions 21 formed on theinterior of the side walls 11 of the base. These trunnions 20 areconfined in a pair of complementary notches 22 cut in the side of thecover plate 15 as is clearly seen in Figure 1. A metal mounting strap 25is. fastened over the cover and to the end walls 12 of the base to holdthe switch housing intact, as will be well understood by those skilledin this art.

The pressure-lock terminals will now be discussed to lay the groundworkfor the thesis that there is very little space available in the switchhousing for the toggle mechanism. The space factor is a crucial onewhich emphasizes the importance of the miniature toggle mechanismdisclosed and claimed herein. Looking first at the plan view of the base10 of Figure 5, it should be understood that the base is divided intothree chambers by a parallel pair of longitudinally extending partitions27. The chamber 28 between the partitions 27 is provided foraccommodating the toggle mechanism which will be described in detailhereinafter. The remaining two chambers 29 and 30 extend along the sidesof the base for accommodating the spring contact blades 31 and thepressure-lock terminals 32 as best seen in Figure 2. Two separatecontact blades 31 are shown, and each blade has a contact ing tip 33 atone end and a terminal plate 34 at the opposite end. The end posts 16 ofthe base are T-shaped in plan view, each post cooperating with avertical slot 35 in the side walls 11 for receiving the terminal plates34 of the contact blades.

Lead wires must be connected to the terminal plates 34 of the contactblades 31 before the switch can be used to control an electric circuit.This is accomplished by means of the pressure-lock terminals 32previously mentioned. Each such terminal has a spring locking tongue 36that is seated on the bottom wall 13 of the base. The free end of thelocking tongue 36 overlies a wire-receiving opening 37 in the base whilethe opposite end is formed at a re-i entrant angle as at 38 and isbraced against the projec- 4. A toggle switch comprising a hollowhousing having three compartments extending lengthwise of the housing,the two outside compartments each containing the terminal end of aspring contact blade and a pressurelock terminal means including aspring locking tongue for attaching a bare conductor to the contactterminal, the said contact blades extending in a parallel manner intothe central compartment to form the fixed contacts of the switch, and asnap acting toggle mechanism arranged in the central compartment andincluding an insulating flapper of thin plate construction with apointed lower end that is supported in and guided by a narrow groove inthe bottom wall of the housing, the flapper carrying a bridging contactthat extends therethrough for engaging both of the contact blades whenthe flapper is forced therebetween.

5. A toggle switch as recited in claim 4 wherein the narrow groove inthe bottom wall of the central compartment of the housing is a deep wellwith a longitudinally concave track on which the flapper is supported,the flapper being of heart shape with the pointed end bearing on thetrack for sliding movement.

6. A toggle switch as recited in claim 5 wherein the flapper has anupper extension with a close-fitting coil spring thereover, the saidtoggle mechanism comprising the flapper, the coil spring and a pivotedtrigger, the lower end of the trigger having a narrow slot receiving theupper end of the flapper extension, one end of the coil spring beingenlarged and telescoped over the lower end of the trigger to establish aflexible connection between the flapper and trigger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,977,078 Meuer Oct. 16, 1934 2,276,673 Schellenger Mar. 17, 19422,795,677 Slater June 11, 1957 2,818,479 Volk Dec. 31, 1957 FOREIGNPATENTS 1,776 Great Britain Jan. 14, 1904 of 1903 545,567 Great BritainJune 2, 1942 582,208 Germany Aug. 10, 1953

